I think this might be where we agree to disagree then, I think my top interest is that we have a city which is properly urban and enables active transportation and having all the stores people feel they need in a walkable area is an important step in that. Boutiques are nice, but much of the...
Hot take, but I think there's still a lot that the City can do short of demolishing the WEM. That said, if you're able to get your hands on a time machine, I'd agree that'd likely be the most effective option!
Pretty sure there are plenty of cities with street-facing H&M's and other major retailers, I've certainly seen a fair few myself. I think you might be slowly coming around to my main point though which is that there needs to be more done by the City to improve the vibrancy, attractiveness to...
I was thinking more retail (like the H&M or Best Buy you had mentioned), than fast food. I don't think anyone's traveling to a specific mall or shopping centre for their Starbucks fix.
Once again going back to the comparison to malls and anchor tenants, Dairy Queen would not be an example of an...
First, wasn't meant as an attack really. I do think its a bit of a silly false dichotomy though to say we either only have major chains or we only have independents. Nearly all successful commercial strips I've been to are mixes of chains and independents. Clearly independent retailers on Whyte...